AB2444 by Assemblyman Isadore Hall, D-Compton, is headed to the Senate after passing on a 72-1 vote. Hall introduced the bill after his mother saw replica Confederate money being sold at the state Capitol gift shop.

He called the image a symbol of racism meant to intimidate.

“Its symbolism in history is directly linked to the enslavement, torture and murder of millions of Americans,” Hall said of the Confederate flag. “The state of California should not be in the business of promoting hate toward others.”

The only lawmaker to vote against the bill was Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, the leading Republican candidate for governor.

Actually, with all due respect to Assemblyman Hall and his mother, the package was not intended to intimidate anyone. It was a package displaying replica Confederate money that civil war buffs might be interested in. It is the same reason why Civil War reenactors on the Confederate side carry Confederate flags. In those historical contexts, it is simply history.

I'm from Louisiana and my ancestors fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. I despise the Confederate States of America and everything it stood for because its whole reason for existence was to promote white supremacy and to preserve slavery. However, most men who took up arms for the Confederacy believed they were defending their homes from a foreign invader and their sacrifices should be respected.

This bill is political correctness run amok and to deny a part of American history because it offends certain people is morally wrong.

Finally, I'm sure California has bigger problems like say, funding pensions for their teachers, than worrying about whether or not state agencies are selling merchandise that have an image of a Confederate flag on it.